Vacation Time Qs?

ICRN2008, BSN, RN · May 20, 2008

On my unit the manager was allottted 40 hours of RN PTO per week. Basically, this meant that in any pay period she could only assign 80 hours of vacation time if she wanted to stay within the budget. Of course, this would vary depending on the hospital's policy and the number of RNs on the unit. In health care, minimal levels of staffing must be maintained. Vacation time is usually done in the form of a written request to the manager, and approval is based on seniority. At my first job (in the lab, not as an RN) I have a very difficult time taking PTO in the summer because I was lowest on the seniority list. I ended up with whatever days the other employees did not want.

Most facilities will limit how much of your vacation time you can use for your assigned weekends. At my previous job, we were only allowed one weekend (out of 26) off each year. The rest of our PTO had to be taken during the week. We were not allowed to use PTO for assigned holidays.

My suggestion to anyone new to health care is to plan your vacations early and turn in your request forms promptly. You will be sorely disappointed when July comes and you find out that no more vacation time is available until Thanksgiving!

April, RN, BSN, RN · May 20, 2008

It will vary by hospital, but you usually start off with a set amount of vacation time and it accrues over the years. You request vacation time in advance, before the schedule comes out. You don't have to find someone to cover those shifts because it is done in advance. Whether or not it's hard to get time off is going to depend on where you work. It's harder to get time off in the summer since everyone wants time off then, especially if you don't have seniority. Other times of year might not be a problem though.

If you are on the schedule already and decide you need a shift off, you will have to find someone to cover that shift. Where I work, if you call out because you are sick or something unexpected, its an unexcused absence and it comes out of your vacation time, too. If that happens, the floor either works short or they might call people at home to see if they can come in to fill in.

Hope that helps some!

CHATSDALE · May 20, 2008

vacation time can vary

some hospital will gie you so many vacation days a pay period,

some will give you a set amount after the first year [this is being faded out in lieu of accumulating per pay period]

most places where i worked if you asked in advance for vacation and it was approved then arranging for staffing was their problem

if you decided to take a unexpected day off then you will be expected to arrange with another nurse, some of hospitals will not approve a sub if it will give that nurse overtime

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · May 20, 2008

Where I work, you're not eligible for vacation time for the first six months, but you ARE accruing the hours during that time. So you'll have the time "in the bank" for when you start putting requests in for time off. You have a maximum amount that can be accrued each year; depending on how you plan it out, you can get alot of time off in one year by not taking much the previous year. Still, same number of hours.

Our schedules are done one or two months at a time (varies) and all time off requests (v, personal, holiday, whatever) goes on that schedule. The person in charge of creating the schedule covers all the bases to see who needs to be on when someone is off; it's not the nurse's problem to get her own coverage! The exception would be if the schedule is already posted and you THEN wanted to change stuff; you'd be responsible for switching and getting those switches approved.

We also have holiday time, personal time, sick time and there's rules for all of that, just like any other job in the world--this is still a business after all.

Quickbeam, BSN, RN · May 20, 2008

Just want to pipe up with my take on this....I found it very hard to get time off in my 10 hospital years. I worked straight nights and it was aways "there is no one to cover". Many years I got paid out as manager's choice.

In addition to the summer blitz...seniority rules most places... please be aware that many places will not allow vacation time at all between December-January 1st. That was a huge issue for me as I live 1500 miles from family. Once I realized that as long as I worked for Hospital X, I'd never be allowed to take a Christmas vacation (not even once in 10 years), I quit.

These are very good questions to ask before you accept a job. Alas, policies change. My "no vacation in December ever" job was not that way when I was hired.

If you search this site you'll see tons of threads on vacation issues. It helps to be really flexible. I have no kids so DH and I would vacation in May or October most years. The parents would not want that time so it was easier to get.

BittyBabyGrower, MSN, RN · May 20, 2008

Where I work, we have a separate vacation accruement from our sick time. New hires get 3 weeks off, but can't take vacation for 6 months from their hire date, but it is accruing. We have over 100 nurses in our unit, so as you can guess, summer is a hot time. You can take two weeks off, but it does go by seniority. We assign alternate hours so if the unit slows up and we need to cancel, we give those people first pick. They may not have been able to plan something, but at least they are getting some summer days off. The easiest time to get as a new person is Jan-mid May, so if you don't have kids that is the perfect time to take. We will allow someone to pick up half your week's hours for you, but it can't be overtime and you will go without pay if you desperately need off.

Vacation is always a hot topic in most units.